The Donia Human Rights Center (DHRC) is pleased to announce the creation of three new student fellowship opportunities launching in summer 2021. The fellowships are designed to provide students in the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) with the opportunity to apply their academic learning and experiences to cutting-edge human rights challenges in different settings around the world. They represent a continuation and expansion of the DHRC’s commitment to making a long-term investment in the cause of human rights by helping U-M students enhance their understanding of international human rights beyond the classroom.  

In establishing the new opportunities, the DHRC’s Director, Professor Steven Ratner, said “We’re very excited to be opening up more possibilities for experiential learning for our students and to provide them with an opening for future work in human rights. These fellowships will allow students to engage with top-notch institutions. It’s also important for Michigan students to see that the world of human rights practice involves people from numerous academic disciplines and personal backgrounds.”

The three new fellowships are the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Fellowship (Belgrade, Serbia), the Social Change Initiative Fellowship (Belfast, Northern Ireland), and the Student-Initiated Summer Internship Fellowship. Students accepted into these 8-week programs will receive stipends of up to $5,000 to defray the costs of living. If travel conditions permit students to undertake the internship in person, students will receive an additional $1,000 in travel funding.  

The successful applicant for the new Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Fellowship will work virtually with the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights Team (BCHR) team in programs such as: Asylum and Migration Program, Criminal Justice Programme, Youth Program, and Rule of Law and Human Rights Program. The fellow will conduct research of comparative international human rights standards, attend different meetings and conferences, prepare short policy papers, and participate in online campaigns implemented by BCHR. Application deadline: February 22nd.

The Social Change Initiative (Belfast, Northern Ireland) fellow will work virtually with the Social Change Initiative, a leading research and advocacy institution addressing issues of human rights and conflict resolution. The student will work on analyzing the opportunities for monitoring the implementation in Northern Ireland of the human rights provisions of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and the recently concluded EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Application deadline: March 8th. 

Finally, the Student-Initiated Summer Internship Fellowship is open to one rising LSA undergraduate senior with a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in human rights. To qualify for the fellowship, the student must propose a placement with a government, non-governmental organization, international organization, or research institution that works on issues of international human rights. Applicants will need to provide a letter of invitation, including a description of the proposed work, from the organization. The placement can be within the United States or abroad. Application deadline: March 8th. 

The DHRC’s other fellowship opportunities are the International Human Rights Fellowship with Perseus Strategies, Fair Labor Association Fellowship, Korea-Michigan Human Rights Research Fellowship with the Social Science Korea Human Rights Forum at Sungkyunkwan University, and the Robert J. Donia Graduate Student Fellowship.

For more information on the new DHRC fellowships, students should visit https://ii.umich.edu/humanrights/students.html.

For questions, please contact dhrc-fellowships@umich.edu.